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Hands On: Coolux Pandoras Box

Renowned production lighting designer Yves Aucoin weighs in on the strengths of Pandoras Box.

Hands On: Coolux Pandoras Box

Renowned production lighting designer Yves Aucoin weighs in on the strengths of Pandoras Box.

We have one Pandoras Box for the four main screens, one for the inner stealth screens, and one for the Ayrton floor tiles. The cool thing is that even with everything on the timeline, I can access and control the intensity and other lighting features from my desk. I love it.

MY PICK: Pandoras Box Media Server

PRICING: $27,219 to $54,429, depending on configuration

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT: In my opinion, lighting and video, these days, should be part of one big department. The Pandoras Box is the perfect tool to help me blend both worlds together. From my lighting desk, for example, I’m able to adjust the intensity and the color palette through the Pandoras Box and go into details for a better result on the final look.

WHAT I WOULD CHANGE: I would upgrade to a full HD version. People spend a lot of money on full HD video production, so we need to be able to present the same high-resolution quality.

Manufacturer’s Specifications

Up to 32 video and 16 graphic layers

Up to 2TB of RAID storage

Input options: 4 Composite, 1 SD SDI, 1 HD SDI, 1 XGA

Outputs: 2 DVI/VGA

Output resolution: 2048×1536 (per output)

Video format support: MPEG-2, AVI, Quicktime

Image format support: .BMP, .JPG, .TGA, .PNG

Audio format support: MP3, .WAV

WHERE I USED IT: We currently have on tour with Celine Dion four Pandoras Box systems and four backups. We’ve been on the road since February 2008, all over the world, and we haven’t experienced any problems. The only time we’ve had issues, it was because of the guy behind the machine–sometimes I try to go to fast and I get lost. But I have a great technician who’s always there to put me back on track.

MY RESULTS: The entire show is driven by the band. The band generates the master time code, which is used by all departments. The Pandoras Box receives that time code, then we work with the system in two different ways. About 60 percent of the video content of the show is laid down on a timeline. The other 40 percent goes through a grandMA lighting console. Those video cues are recorded as normal lighting cues.

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